Lemongirl Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Does anyone have any experience of this school? We are possibly looking at a sixth form place for dd. I like the fact they offer A Levels and it seems quite academic too. How competitive is it to get a place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 I like the look of it for those reasons too but it's way out of our price league. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 DD attended 2010-2012 and since then the format has changed. Previously they had to take A level dance along with 2 other A levels but I believe there is now a Btech in replace of the dance A level. I'm not sure who is Head of Dance now, Miss Holland was there at the end of DD's time and she is amazing. Entry is by audition for the Legat part of it. I'm not really in touch now just drive past on my way to work every day but it was wonderful when DD was there. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dramascientist Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 I agree with Pothesia a beautiful school. DD auditioned in 2014 for a 6th form place and was offered a place but without a scholarship and bursary it was out of our price range.Elaine Holland was still there then and was lovely, the facilities are amazing and a real feel of excellence about the place. There is Btech dance now with 2 A'levels. If you can afford it I would definitely go for it! Good luck, DRSC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemongirl Posted May 10, 2016 Author Share Posted May 10, 2016 Gosh, how much are the fees? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invisiblecircus Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 According to their website it's £11,087 per term for full boarding, plus an extra £200 per term for the Legat programme. The fees are comparable to other boarding schools, it's just that there is no funding help available in the form of DADA etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemongirl Posted May 10, 2016 Author Share Posted May 10, 2016 Wow, I had no idea it would be that much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 We would be unable to afford it now, it's gone up since DD was there and also she was a day pupil so the fees were less. Just checked out Stowe School as I used to live near there and the fees are comparable and I've just checked out Tring Park for 6th form and their fees are £11,180.00 per term/boarding. Haven't seen the new facilities at Tring but the facilities at Bedes are amazing - I can't remember how many loose boxes they have but they used to have 30 mini buses to transport the students in. there is as full golf course - I don't remember the facilities at Stowe being so good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherbert Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Really, why wouldn't one check the fees first?! It is a good compromise though, good independent school replacing (the otherwise very valuable) sport curricula with dance, plus additional sessions on other days. All on the website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoglett Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Have a look at Abbots Bromley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemongirl Posted May 10, 2016 Author Share Posted May 10, 2016 Sherbert, sorry but I couldn't find the fees on the website, I did look. Most of the private girls' day schools round here are around the £5k mark per term. So boarding is nearly double. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invisiblecircus Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 It's £6,975 per term for day pupils, plus another £200 per term for the Legat programme. The fees are listed on the St Bede's Website under admissions. Not very easy to find to be fair. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoglett Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=769150469886772&id=622003947934759 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemongirl Posted May 11, 2016 Author Share Posted May 11, 2016 Thank you, that's very helpful. hoglett - Abbotts Bromley looks interesting, thank you. Beside the fees, what is the dance training like at either Legat or Abbotts Bromley? Porthesia - what did your dd go on to do after Legat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 I have heard good things about Abbots Bromley. A girl we know of went from there to Bird College & someone else we know rates the ballet teaching highly. AB is possibly close enough to us to commute & ftom speaking to someone from the school they say they try to not exclude for purely financial reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 Thank you, that's very helpful. hoglett - Abbotts Bromley looks interesting, thank you. Beside the fees, what is the dance training like at either Legat or Abbotts Bromley? Porthesia - what did your dd go on to do after Legat? Porthesia may not want to identify her dd in any way so should not feel obliged to answer your last question, Lemongirl - this is a completely public forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemongirl Posted May 11, 2016 Author Share Posted May 11, 2016 Oh sorry porthesia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 (edited) That's okay Lemongirl, I hadn't thought about it but will preserve dd's anonomity Edited May 11, 2016 by porthesia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 I read that Legat has a new Artistic Director appointed as of June 2016. Does anyone have any thoughts on how this may change the nature of the dance training offered? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 (edited) It is now being advertised as The Legat School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, which is the same description as Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance where Lee Smikle the new principal and artistic director trained. It would seem logical to think that training will be across the two disciplines. I would just add that my school was invited to send 6 pupils to take part in a project with him last year, and as a teacher I was asked to go along and chaperone some of the sessions. My pupils all adored working with Lee and I was very impressed by him, so I am sure he will take the Legat School to new heights. Edited July 4, 2016 by Pas de Quatre 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeliB Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 DS did some associate classes at Legat a fair time ago (5 years?) and I have always kept a slight interest in what's going on there. DS was asked to audition there for a scholarship but he was only just starting to take ballet seriously so it wasn't the right time for us/him. I think the school itself has astounding facilities and I understand their pastoral care is good. Academically they don't do all so well for a fee paying school (compared go our local state school for example) BUT they have a LOT of children doing national level sports and arts so its perhaps not surprising... My comment on it as a training place for dancers is that there is a pretty high turnover of principals (I think this latest makes 4 in 5 years?), which means over the course of a child's training the style and emphasis of the teaching may vary quite considerably. Secondly it is pretty small, so it depends a bit on the character of your child but I think its much harder to push to excel when you are in a small cohort - certainly having looked at how DS has thrived being amongst a large number of exceptional dancers compared to a smaller institution it wouldn't have been the right fit for him. I know YDA is small and has excellent results, so its a bit of a generalisation perhaps, but I do think its a consideration.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean73 Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 Hi, on the web site it states that 90% of pupils gained a*- c in gcse results which is considerable higher than the results gained at my daughters secondary school. i think academically it has been improving over the last few years. i also thought that elaine holland had been the principle for the last 5 years and a new director has just been appointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeliB Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 Oh, well maybe our local state school is unusual then, because ours is 94% (though I agree there's not a lot in it). When DS first started doing associates Mary Goodhew had only just taken on the role of principal. She was there for about a year at least, then Elaine Holland took over, now there's a new person, so I guess I was thinking that if you include Mary's predecessor that's 4 principals since DS was 13. Though actually he's about to turn 19 so that's 6 years. Even so I think that's a lot when you compare it to the longevity of the big schools- enough for a child starting in yr 7 and finishing in yr 13 to have lived through a fair amount of regime change..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 (edited) Just thought I should clarify that at Bede's Senior School the pupils start in Year 9 not Year 7. And yes there have been a few principals, believe me we know because we lived through the leaving of Mary Goodhew and the start of Miss Holland with all the disruption and uncertainty that went in between. But if my memory serves me well Miss Holland started September 2011 and has only just left. Edited for type's Edited July 7, 2016 by porthesia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
along for the ride mum Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 (edited) Eurrgh, statistics! Of course percentages are such a blunt tool. When comparing a (theoretical) local secondary school which maybe has 100 pupils in each cohort with a (theoretical) private school ( be it dance related or otherwise) which my have, let's say, 20 pupils in each cohort, if one pupil fails to make those grades in the local comp, their results drop to 99% but if one pupil in the private school fails to achieve the same grades, that pupil is worth 5% so results would be 95% pass. So comparing percentages needs a little pinch of salt. Of course I do understand that the more pupils you have in each cohort, the greater chance, statistically that one or more of them may have some kind of barrier to learning, too Edited for clarity Edited July 7, 2016 by along for the ride mum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut68 Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 Very well explained & valid point - easy to become lured by the statistics but as you say these relate directly to individuals; it really cannot be a scientific driven decision alone when choosing schools! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeliB Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 I agree along for the ride mum about the problem of stats- but equally many private schools, who often market themselves on being better academically, select only academically able pupils and those who have difficulty are turfed out, so the state school in general will have a far higher proportion of children with learning difficulties, non english speaking, behavioural problems etc etc. Also a close friend who worked at a very prestigious private school in Sussex tells some pretty awful stories about the way exam results are manipulated at private schools in order to get the best outcome. So I suppose the point I was making was that you would expect most private schools to have significantly better results. But that's a digression. In relation to Bedes specifically I didn't get the impression (either from being shown round the school by Mary Goodhew or from friends whose children have gone there) that this is their practise. And in fact I respect them far more that they have a good reputation for turning around children with problem behaviour. I don't think I would have any probs (apart from lack of cash!!) sending a child there on that score. But I still personally feel the ballet faculty is too small. But then I was looking for a boy so it's much different.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahw Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 I was very impressed with the academic side of the school. They do not select. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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